If growing at scale was such a bad strategic decision, why did Harborside embark on building a +200,000 square foot cultivation facility to the financial detriment of their shareholders? Reply
Certainly the most interesting article in the cannabis press for some time. So much to think about! I’m happy to report that in Oregon we have an excellent system for distributing fine cannabis in legal stores. Experienced customers want to see, smell, and compare flower products from the top farms at stores staffed by knowledgeable and friendly budtenders. At the present moment corporate cannabis isn’t very strong in Oregon and definitely doesn’t have a very good reputation among experienced shoppers. There is, however, tremendous downward pressure on prices that is hurting the industry at every level as the economic strain of general societal price inflation puts a crimp in customers’ pocket books. Reply
At present, combining “adult use” and medical cannabis regimes removes the privilege of immunity from federal prosecution established by the Rohrabacher Amendment, which is now Section 531of the current federal budget. This is not true of state medical cannabis regimes which do not contain provisions which purport to legalize and license possession, cultivation, processing and/or commerce in behavior which “the state itself has identified as being outside its medical marijuana regime.” (US v Bilodeau: US Court of Appeals Cir. 1 (2022) Beyond that is that we do have our 61 year old treaty obligations under UNSCND that proscribe the use of cannabis except for industrial hemp, medicine and research. There are at least two models which get us to almost universal access without violating those treaty obligations. One allows pretty much all stakeholders in cannabis a way in and advances the current state of knowledge about the therapeutic applications of cannabis by several decades within five years of implementation. Along the way it provides the opportunity to protect thousands of smallholders. Reply
Steep Hill in the news – more negativity: 4 Arkansas marijuana companies hit with RICO suit over alleged THC inflation Four medical marijuana companies in Arkansas are in the crosshairs of a federal civil lawsuit alleging that they conspired to defraud MMJ patients by illegally lying about cannabis potency testing results. The class action lawsuit – filed by three Arkansas MMJ patients – alleges that a prominent state cannabis testing lab “intentionally inflates the amount of THC in its customer’s flower” on behalf of at least three growers also named as defendants. The suit was filed against testing lab Steep Hill Arkansas and growers Bold Team, Natural State Medicinals and Osage Creek Cultivation. Reply